Striving to Farm

"I feel like this guy is weird. The sword he's carrying is one I'm very familiar with—it's Frostmourne from World of Warcraft. If things were normal, I could understand it, but now that it's the apocalypse, I highly suspect there's something wrong with his head."

"Do you think this could be a trap?"

If this were before, no one would have been this vigilant.

But now that it was the apocalypse, the past few days had truly shown them just how sinister human nature could be.

Friends who once walked with their arms around each other and shared every secret would kick you in the back just to buy themselves time to escape.

Therefore, they were extremely cautious now; in an era like this, a moment of carelessness meant losing your life.

In the peaceful age, it was hard to earn someone's trust, let alone now—earning trust was even more difficult than ascending to the heavens.

"We don't have any malicious intent. Please forgive us if we've disturbed you," the leader said.

She couldn't quite figure out this man's situation either.

In a library, seeing someone reading was a perfectly normal thing.

But what kind of situation was this?

This was the apocalypse, a place filled with danger everywhere; how could someone be here reading?

"It's fine, you all can continue. Just keep your voices down a bit; after all, this is a library."

Lin Fan sat down and buried his head back into his book. The knowledge on agriculture was quite interesting, and he wanted to read in peace for a while.

The leader whispered, "Keep it quiet from now on."

She had a premonition that the man before them was not someone to be trifled with. It wasn't that she knew anything specific, but rather just a woman's intuition.

A long time passed.

Lin Fan heard the sound of their footsteps as they left. He stood up and looked over, noticing them hurrying toward the exit.

"Are you leaving?" Lin Fan asked.

The short-haired woman replied, "Is there something you need?"

She acted very kindly, showing not a hint of impatience.

"You're leaving with so many books; you need to register them. These books don't belong to any one individual, and they must be logged if they're being borrowed." Lin Fan didn't mean anything else by it; he was just offering a reminder.

What?

Not only was the short-haired woman stunned, but the two men beside her were also dumbfounded.

Actually, never mind them.

Anyone would be stunned.

What did he just say?

"Damn, brother, is there something wrong with your brain?" the man in the baseball cap couldn't help but ask. He almost wanted to laugh. Which psychiatric hospital did this patient escape from? In all of Huang City, it seemed only Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital existed.

He didn't even look at what time it was.

He actually wanted them to register—was he crazy?

"Do you know what it's like outside right now?" the short-haired woman asked tactfully.

She hadn't thought the man had a mental problem before, but at this moment, she definitely felt it.

It wasn't normal; it was truly, incredibly abnormal.

"I know. It's the apocalypse, and there are zombies outside that bite people. Other than that, there haven't been many changes," Lin Fan said calmly.

"Brother, if you know what it's like outside, you should understand that acting like this is really... forget it. You have your own ideas, and we got what we wanted. Let's just leave each other alone and mind our own business, alright?" the man in the baseball cap said.

He wasn't a vicious person; he had just been an ordinary person in society before, living a nine-to-five life, not breaking the law, not causing trouble, and working hard to live a better life.

Lin Fan saw that they seemed a bit nervous and smiled. "Don't be nervous, it's fine. I was just giving you a reminder. It really is dangerous outside right now, and I'm sure you wouldn't want to be in this situation. I understand."

"Oh, right, remember my name. I'm Lin Fan, and I live at Sunshine Residential Complex, Building 2, Unit 2, 704. If you run into a zombie horde and your safety is at risk, you can come find me. I'm very strong; a hundred or eighty zombies are no match for me."

The short-haired woman: ...

The man in the baseball cap: ...

The last man: ...

Confirmed.

He really had a screw loose.

But they didn't say it out loud.

"Thanks. If we really run into danger, we'll come find you," the short-haired woman said hurriedly, then quickly led her group away.

The other two men took one last deep look at Lin Fan.

Perhaps they wanted to say... Brother, you sure are bragging up a storm.

"They left so fast; I didn't even get to ask their names." Lin Fan watched their retreating backs with a hint of regret. However, learning brought him joy, so he returned to his seat and buried his head in his studies once more.

Agriculture was a bit complicated.

Whether he could be self-sufficient in the future depended on himself.

The library fell silent.

Only the sound of turning pages echoed through the quiet library.

Outside the library.

"Big Sis, I guarantee it, one hundred percent certain, this guy is definitely a lunatic. He must have been scared out of his mind by the apocalypse," the man in the baseball cap said firmly.

"I feel like he is, too," a man beside him added.

"Enough talk, let's go," the short-haired woman said.

The three of them boarded the Steel Beast. Old Mao, the driver, breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing everyone return safely and started the engine, pulling away quickly.

The noise of the engine starting attracted a few zombies.

They had clearly wandered over from somewhere else.

But for these few zombies to try and stop this Steel Beast was undoubtedly like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—an act of overestimating their own strength. They were instantly crushed under the iron wheels, leaving behind a mess of filthy flesh and blood.

"Awesome, Old Mao! Every time I see your car crush those zombies, it feels incredibly satisfying," the man in the baseball cap said.

The short-haired girl looked through the glass, casting one last deep glance at the library.

She wondered when this apocalypse would finally come to an end.

It felt like being in the dark, unable to see a single glimmer of hope.

"The content is too rich; I can't finish it in a short time."

He had stayed in the library for a long time. The light gradually dimmed as the sunset arrived, a streak of earthy-yellow radiance passing through the library glass to quietly merge with the floor.

He closed the book.

"Looks like I'll have to check it out and read it slowly at home."

The books on plants contained a wealth of knowledge about vegetable cultivation.

He greatly admired the farmers who worked the land; they knew the planting methods for every vegetable by heart, often in even greater detail than what was recorded in the books.

"That's enough for today. Time to head home."

Lin Fan stood up, tucked a book under his arm, and went to the library front desk to register it.

Without a library card, one had to pay a one-hundred-yuan deposit and leave a phone number.

He only took one book; taking more would hinder his learning progress and lead to a lack of focus.

He had once heard an expert on TV say that when going to the library, one should only borrow one book. Borrowing too many just meant they would end up as decorations.

This was especially true for men; it was best for a man to borrow only one.

According to the nature of men, they were focused only when there were no external temptations. If there were temptations or choices, they would be drawn to beautiful things or pretty women, glancing at this and then that, until in the end, it was as if they hadn't read anything at all.

After paying the deposit and tucking the book away, he walked out of the library and pulled the bronze door shut.

Outside.

The sky in the distance was a reddish-yellow; the sunset had arrived, and darkness was falling fast.

He walked along the quiet road. Both sides were peaceful, and every storefront was empty.

Occasionally, a rotting corpse would lie there, ignored by everyone.

A gust of wind blew by.

Lin Fan sneezed, his nose itching.

He had long since grown accustomed to his surroundings. There wasn't much difference from before, save for the fact that the people were gone.

He had jogged over when he arrived and hadn't paid much attention to the environment, but now, walking back slowly, he considered it a form of sightseeing.

He returned to the Seed Company.

All kinds of vegetable seeds were there, clearly labeled.

He took some of each, wrapped them up, and put them in his pocket.

He also grabbed some base fertilizer; this was the key to whether the vegetables would grow lush and strong.

"I'll leave the money here," Lin Fan said, pulling cash from his pocket and placing it on the counter.

Even though the owner wasn't there, he couldn't just take things for free; it was a matter of principle.

If one took things for free often, it would eventually become a habit.

Once that habit formed, it would be truly terrifying.

He left the Seed Company and headed in the direction of home.

There was a lot to do next.

He needed to choose a place to plant.

The vacant lots in his residential complex were a good choice, though of course, those lots didn't belong to him alone. If he wanted to plant there, he would need to get everyone's permission.

Back home.

Lin Fan set the book aside, placing the seeds and fertilizer he had bought in the same spot.

His trip out today had not been in vain.

He had encountered people struggling to survive in the apocalypse, and he had also encountered those who used the apocalypse to commit evil.

"Doing your own part is the greatest help you can offer others." Lin Fan patted his face, trying to relax.

Although entertainment was a thing of the past, he could focus his energy on learning.

It was getting late.

Dinner wasn't ready yet, but he still had some of the vegetables he'd bought earlier, so he could continue eating those.

Soon.

The scent of cooking wafted through the room.

"A man who can cook is truly the best."

Lin Fan felt pleased with himself; even in the apocalypse, he maintained a cheerful mindset.

At night.

He sat at his computer desk, reading the borrowed books, taking notes as he went to record some of the content.

The books would have to be returned eventually, so it was better to write down some of the information to avoid forgetting it later.

A long while passed.

His eyelids grew heavy, and feeling sleepy, he closed the book, lay down on the bed, hugged his teddy bear, and drifted into a sweet dream.

In the quiet night, the occasional roar of a zombie could be heard.

It served as a reminder to the living that danger was always lurking nearby.

Somewhere in the desert, an underground base.

Traces of zombies could be seen, but they were all being kept under control.

A group of people in protective suits were conducting various experiments.

"It's very strange. According to our tests, the cell activity within the zombies is increasing slightly every day."

"Are you saying the zombies are evolving?"

"You could say that."

"Never mind that for now. I just want to know, can we develop a virus antibody?"

"No. These viruses are very strange; they are unlike anything we have ever seen, or even anything similar. Are you familiar with zombie genes?"

"Do you mean to say that these people have died and come back to life, living in another form?"

"It's hard to say..."

"Continue the research. No matter what, we must develop a virus antibody. We must eliminate the zombies and get the world back on track."

"Yes."

From the moment the zombies first appeared, this base had also experienced issues.

Fortunately, the situation was not severe.

At the cost of a few personnel, they had managed to eliminate those who had turned into zombies.

Upon learning that the outside world was in an apocalypse and overrun by zombies, they were completely stunned.

They could only rely on the resources here and focus entirely on research.

They hoped to develop a cure.

To completely and utterly eradicate the zombies.

If things continued like this, the world would be completely destroyed.